Bent Bros. building demolition completed

Tuesday

Jul 29, 2008 at 6:00 AM

By George Barnes TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Watching the final demolition of a former S. Bent Bros. factory building yesterday, Earl Myntti, a retired engineer who worked for the company, said the building was in the best condition of several on the property.

“It’s too bad,” he said. “It was solidly built.”

Mr. Myntti said he worked for the company for about 35 years, retiring in 1988, but he returned for a few years in the 1990s when the company needed someone with an engineer’s license to do certain types of work.

“It was a good place to work,” he said while an excavating machine picked through the last of the rubble of the building, separating wood from metal.

A $5,000 reward has been posted while city police and the state fire marshal’s office continue to investigate an early-morning fire Saturday that destroyed one of the vacant former Bent Bros. factory buildings near Winter and Mill streets.

The building, once used to make samples, was destroyed; the fire is seen as suspicious. F.A. Moschetti Construction Co. began demolishing the remains of the building over the weekend and completed the task yesterday.

The property, which includes several former factory buildings, is owned by the city, which took it for unpaid taxes. Building Inspector Richard Reynolds said the city has been forced many times to board up the buildings to keep out vandals and vagrants.

“The efforts so far have been fruitless,” he said. “We spent $90,000 last year on plywood.”

Mr. Reynolds said the city has locked and chained doors, welded metal doors shut and locked and barred doors inside the buildings, but vandals continue to break in.

“I bought a new chain for the gates five times,” he said. “We’re constantly putting up ‘No Trespassing’ signs and they steal them as soon as we put them up.”

Mr. Reynolds said he bought 100 signs and only has a handful left. He said some of the damage to the buildings has been caused by people breaking in to steal whatever they could find. Much of it is also caused by people just looking to smash things and vagrants who have been living in the buildings.

“They’ve already stolen all the copper and wiring out of the building,” he said.

Mr. Reynolds said the city is still hoping it will not have to tear down the other buildings on the property, but with deterioration and vandalism, it may become necessary.

“They’re in terrible condition,” he said. “The roofs are leaking very bad.”

The 27-acre factory complex has not been used to make furniture since it was sold at a foreclosure auction in August 2001. The new owners hoped to convert the property into restaurants and other commercial and cultural enterprises. The city took the property in 2006 because the owners owed $250,000 in back taxes.

The reward offered by the fire marshal’s office is for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the fire. Police said any information will be confidential.

The number for information is (800) 682-9229. Mr. Reynolds said neighbors are also asked to help the city prevent vandalism by contacting police if they see anything suspicious.